During the time of Jesus, the Great
Sanhedrin (which comes from a Greek word
meaning sitting together, or council) met daily
in Jerusalem to consider the violations of Jewish
law that took place in all the Jewish communities in the known world at
that time.

The council was made up of 71 men, all of whom were the
fathers of families, whether they were priests, elders, scribes,
Pharisees, or Sadducees.
To belong to the Great Sanhedrin, they all must have served in lower Jewish
courts before their terms of office in the Great Sanhedrin.

The elders gathered in a semicircle on pillows and carpets
on the floor to decide whether people had violated Jewish law, and if they
were found guilty, what their punishments should be.

They could order people to be whipped or scourged, but
their verdicts of death could be carried out only by stoning, burning, beheading,
or strangling.

Even though they found Jesus guilty of blasphemy on Holy Thursday, he had to be crucified by the Romans,
because the Sanhedrin could not execute anyone in that fashion.

The Sanhedrin did order that Stephen
be put to death by stoning, and Peter, John, and Paul were brought
before the council because of their preaching about Jesus.

Nicodemus,
one of Jesus' early visitors, was a member of the Sanhedrin.